History of Architecture VI

Unit 4: Architecture in colonial India

 Colonialism and its impact
 Early British neo-classical Architecture
 Indo-Saracenic Architecture
 P.W.D. and the institutionalization of architecture
 Building in New Delhi
Architecture in colonial India
 European colonists brought with them to India concepts of their "world view" and a whole baggage of
the history of European architecture --- Neo-Classical, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance.

 The initial structures were utilitarian warehouses and walled trading posts, giving way to fortified
towns along the coastline.

 The Portuguese adapted to India the climatically appropriate Iberian galleried patio house and the
Baroque churches of Goa. Se Cathedral and Arch of Conception of Goa were built in the typical
Portuguese-Gothic style.

 The St. Francis Church at Cochin, built by the Portuguese in 1510, is believed to be the first church
built by the Europeans in India.

 The Portuguese also built the fort of Castella de Aguanda near Mumbai and added fortifications to
the Bassein fort built by Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat, in 1532 AD. The Bassein fort is
famous for the Matriz (Cathedral of St Joseph), the Corinthian pillared hall and the Porte da Mer
(sea gate).
 The Danish influence is evident in Nagapatnam, which was laid out in squares and canals and also in
Tranquebar and Serampore.

 The French gave a distinct urban design to its settlement in Pondicherry by applying the Cartesian grid
plans and classical architectural patterns.

The Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus (Eglise De Sacre Coeur De Jesus), the Eglise de Notre Dame de Anges and the
Eglise de Notre Dame de Lourdes at Pondicherry have a distinct French influence

 However, it was the British who left a lasting impact on the India architecture. They saw themselves
as the successors to the Mughals and used architecture as a symbol of power. The British followed
various architectural styles – Gothic, Imperial, Christian, English Renaissance and Victorian being
the essentials.

 The first buildings were factories but later courts, schools, municipal halls and bungalows came up,
which were ordinary structures built by garrison engineers.

 A deeper concern with architecture was exhibited in churches and other public buildings.
 Most of the buildings were adaptations of the buildings designed by leading British architects of that
time like Wren, Adam, Nash and others in London and other places.

 For instance, the Church of St. John at Calcutta was built in 1787 inspired by St. Stephens Church at
Walbrooks, the Government House in Calcutta was built by Capt. Charles Wyatt modelled on the
Kedleston Hall of Derbyshire, the Indian Government Mint in Calcutta is a half-scale replica of the
Temple of Minerva at Athens and the Pachaiyappa's Hall in Chennai was modelled on the Athenium
Temple of Theseus.

Pachaiyappa's Hall in Chennai

Church of St. John at Calcutta
was built in 1787

Temple of Minerva at Athens

Athenium Temple of Theseus

 Unlike Europe, however, these buildings were built mostly of brick and stuccoed with lime or chunam,
sometimes "facades" incised to look like stones.

 Some later buildings were, however, built with stones. Churches, which were symbols of colonialism,
were built in great style. Based on London prototypes, several churches evolved with variations as
highly original works.

The earliest example is the

St. Mary's Church in Fort
St. George in Chennai.

 Neo-Gothic architecture flourished in different parts of India under the British, inspired by the Houses
of Parliament in London. Colonel Thomas Cowper built the town hall in Bombay during 1820 to 1835.

 Governor Sir Bartle Frere tried to give a truly imperial ambience to the city
of Bombay. During his reign the old town walls were broken down and the
Gateway of India was built in the Gothic style of architecture.

 The Secretariat, University Library, Rajabai Tower, Telegraph Office and

the Victoria Terminus all followed the Victorian Gothic style, similar to
buildings in London.
 Undoubtedly, the Victoria Terminus, designed by the architect Frederick Willaim Stevens modelled on
the St.Pancras Station, is the finest example of Gothic architecture with a subtle hint of the Indo-
Saracenic motifs, an extravaganza of polychromatic stone, decorated tile marble and stained glass.

Architect Frederick Willaim Stevens -St.Pancras Station, is the finest example of Gothic architecture

 Stevens also designed other buildings like the Churchgate Terminus and the Municipal Building
opposite the Victoria Terminus.

 In Varanasi, one of the true Gothic monuments is Queen’s College, built in a perpendicular style by
Major Kitoe from 1847 to 1852.

Gothic monuments is Queen’s College

 In Allahabad, the British built a series of edifices including the University, All Saints Cathedral, the
High Court and the Mayo College. In Calcutta, a High Court was constructed following the Gothic
style.
 The Howrah Bridge (1943), with its red brick facade surrounded by eight square towers represents a
combination of the Oriental and Roman styles. Fort William, the stronghold of the British in mid 19th
century that took 13 years to construct at a cost of more than $3.5 million and the Victoria Memorial in
Calcutta (1921), designed by Sir William Emerson, are probably the most imposing of all British
structures in India.
 The passing of power from the East India Company to the British Crown, the rise of Indian
nationalism and the introduction of Railways were the watersheds in the British Colonial Indian
architectural history. New materials like concrete, glass, wrought and cast iron opened up new
architectural possibilities.

 The British also started assimilating and adopting the native Indian styles in the architecture. All these
factors led to the development of Indo-Saracenic architecture towards the end of the 19th century.
Victorian in essence, it borrowed heavily from the Islamic style of Mughal and Afghan rulers.

 In fact it was a pot pouri of architectural styles; a hybrid style that combined in a wonderful manner
diverse architectural elements of Hindu and Mughal with gothic cusped arches, domes, spires, tracery,
minarets and stained glass.
 Gateway of IndiaThe Indo-Saracenic style was Indian on the outside
and British inside since the facade was built with an Indian touch
while the interior was solely Victorian were the pioneers of this
style of architecture.

Gateway of India-Indo-Saracenic style

 The Chepauk Palace in Chennai designed by Paul Benfield is said
to be the first Indo-Saracenic building in India.

Chepauk Palace in Chennai

 Other outstanding examples of this style of architecture include the Law Courts, Victoria Memorial
Hall, Presidency College and Senate House of Chennai, Muir College at Allahabad, Napier Museum at
Thiruvanthapuram, the Post Office, Prince of Wales Museum and the Gateway of India in Mumbai, the
Maharaja's Palace at Mysore and M.S.University and Lakshmi Villas Palace at Baroda.

Victoria Memorial Hall Napier Museum at Thiruvanthapuram

Presidency College ,Chennai

Maharaja's Palace at Mysore Lakshmi Villas Palace at Baroda

Colonial Indian Architecture

 Like all other aspects, colonization of Indian also had an impact on architecture style. With
colonization, a new chapter in Indian architecture began.

 The Dutch, Portuguese and the French made their presence felt through their buildings but it was the
English who had a lasting impact on architecture.

 In the beginning of the colonial rule there were attempts at creating authority through classical
prototypes. In its later phase the colonial architecture culminated into what is called the Indo-Saracenic
architecture.

 The Indo-Saracenic architecture combined the features of Hindu,

Islamic and western elements. The colonial architecture exhibited
itself through institutional, civic and utilitarian buildings such as
post offices, railway stations, rest houses and government buildings.

Mumbai-university

 Such buildings began to be built in large numbers over the whole empire. Colonial architecture in
India followed developments not only from metropolis but also took inspiration from existing
architecture in India.
Colonialism and its impact
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by
people from another territory.
 Colonialism is a process whereby sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole and the
social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by colonists - people from the
metropole. Colonialism is a set of unequal relationships: between the metropole and the colony, and
between the colonists and the indigenous population.
 The term colonialism normally refers to a period of history from the late 15th to the 20th century when
European nation states established colonies on other continents. In this period, the justifications for
colonialism included various factors such as the profits to be made, the expansion of the power of the
metropole and various religious and political beliefs.
Definition:
 Collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as "the policy of acquiring and maintaining colonies,
especially for exploitation."

 The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy "uses the term 'colonialism' to describe the process of
European settlement and political control over the rest of the world, including Americas, Australia, and
parts of Africa and Asia."

 It discusses the distinction between colonialism and imperialism and states that "given the difficulty of
consistently distinguishing between the two terms, this entry will use colonialism as a broad concept
that refers to the project of European political domination from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries
that ended with the national liberation movements of the 1960s."
Types of colonialism
Historians often distinguish between two forms of colonialism, chiefly based on the number of people
from the colonising country who settle in the colony.

 Settler colonialism involved a large number of colonists, typically seeking fertile land to farm.

 Exploitation colonialism involved fewer colonists, typically interested in extracting resources to export
to the metropole. This category includes trading posts, but it applies more to the much larger colonies
where the colonists would provide much of the administration and own much of the land and other
capital, but rely on indigenous people for labour.
Neocolonialism
The term neocolonialism has been used to refer to a variety of things since the decolonisation efforts after
World War II. Generally it does not refer to a type of colonialism but rather colonialism by other means.
Specifically, the theory that the relationship between stronger and weaker countries is similar to
exploitation colonialism, without the stronger country having to build or maintain colonies. Such theories
are based on economic relationships and interference in the politics of weaker countries by stronger
countries.
Impact of colonialism
Debate about the perceived negative and positive aspects (spread of virulent diseases, unequal social
relations, exploitation, enslavement, infrastructures, medical advances, new institutions, technological
advancements etc.) of colonialism has occurred for centuries, amongst both colonizer and colonized, and
continues to the present day. The questions of miscegenation; the alleged ties between colonial enterprises,
genocides — see the Herero Genocide and the Armenian Genocide — and the Holocaust; and the
questions of the nature of imperialism, dependency theory and neocolonialism (in particular the Third
World debt) continue to retain their actuality.
Early British Style of Architecture
 The British followed various architectural styles – Gothic, Imperial, Christian, English Renaissance
and Victorian being the essentials. Bombay, a forgotten port because of its weather, was renovated after
the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.

 The town hall, built from 1820 to 1835 by Colonel Thomas Cowper and St
Thomas’ Cathedral were already there, but Governor Sir Bartle Frere’s aim
was to build a city out of fragments.

 The old town walls were broken down, and the Gateway of India (through
which the last British troops left) was built.

St Thomas’ Cathedral
 The idea was definitely Gothic, to give Bombay a truly Imperial ambience. The Secretariat, University
Library, Rajabai Tower, the Law Courts, Public Works office, Telegraph office, Victoria Terminus all
followed the Victorian Gothic style, similar to buildings in London.

 Built during 1878 and 1887, the Victoria Terminus, or VT as it is fondly

called, is the finest example of Gothic architecture in India. Its architect
was Frederick Willaim Stevens, an unknown in England, who used
marble, decorated tiles, stained glass, metal, concrete and bricks in a
fusion.
Victoria Terminus
 High above the huge stairway inside a massive dome looms up as statement of Imperial progress in all
its glory. The entrance is flanked by symbolic sentinels of the Raj, a tiger and a lion. Stevens was a
practitioner of Victorian Gothic architecture and also designed the Churchgate Terminus.

 But Stevens’ Municipal Building opposite the Victoria Terminus with the intermingling of Gothic and
Indo-Saracenic architecture stands as the final testament of his brilliance, unsurpassed in British India.

 Built from 1888 to 1893, the Building is a massive conglomeration of masonry crowned with a true
Islamic dome.
British Gothic Architecture
 Across India Gothic architecture flourished under the British.

 In Varanasi, one of the true Gothic monuments is Queen’s College,

built in a perpendicular style by Major Kitoe from 1847 to 1852.

 In nearby Allahabad, the British went on a rampage, building a series

of edifices which include the colossal University, All Saints
Queen’s College
Cathedral, the High Court and Mayo College (now a sports
association called Mayo Hall).

 In the east in Calcutta a High Court was erected on the Gothic style. All Saints Church in Nagpur
was redesigned, the plans being sent to India from England by G F Bodley.
Indo-Saracenic Architecture in India
Indo-Saracenic architecture in India came into prominence during the later parts of the nineteenth century.
With the coming of this pattern, a majority of the patrons felt that there was requirement to be a part of a
particular style which at times led to a highly inventive blending of Western and Oriental design.
 In the later half of the 19th century the revivalists gained ground and there was also a good reason for
it. Victorian Indo-Saracenic buildings were part of the British response to rising Indian nationalism.

 Paradoxically, they helped to foster it by reviving a cultural awareness of the rich and glorious past of
India. They were sophisticated symbols of the Imperial presence.
 The outward camouflage may be Indian and Indian labour may have been used, but the designs, plans
and overall control remained British, in much the same way as the British remained the power behind
the princely states.
 This transmutation of a national Gothic image into Indo-Saracenic forms is an indication of how the
Raj began to adapt its image to make itself more palatable to the rapidly rising middle class of India
Examples of Indo-Saracenic architecture
 A number of the 19th century palaces in the native states were designed in this style by accomplished
practitioners, like Major Charles Mant at Kolhapur or Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob at Bikaner.

 One of the most prolific architects in this style was the versatile
Robert Fellowes Chisholm, who designed the Presidency College
and Senate House at Chennai (Madras) and the vast, rambling
Laxmi Vilas Palace at Vadodara (Baroda).

Presidency College ,Chennai

 However, the greatest Indo-Saracenic building in Chennai is not by Chisholm but by his successor, W.
Brassingham, and Henry Irwin, the architect of Viceregal Lodge, Shimla.

 The Madras Law Courts, constructed between 1888 and 1892, were one of the high points of Indo-
Saracenic architecture in India; `a Romantic confection of multi-coloured Mughal domes, Buddhist
shapes, canopied balconies and arcaded verandahs, crowned by a bulbous domed minaret which forms
a lighthouse`.

 Irwin also designed the exquisite Victoria Memorial Halland Technical Institute, based on the great
Buland Darwaza, the famous gateway of Akbar at Fatehpur Sikri.

Victoria Memorial Hall

Fatehpur Sikri.

Laxmi Vilas Palace at Vadodara (Baroda).

 At Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the English architect Vincent Eseh adorned the city with
a large number of elegant public buildings, including the High Court and Osmania General Hospital.
Here, a blending of Muslim and Hindu styles was used to represent the harmony between the two
communities.
 In the south, at Mysore, Henry lrwin planned the incomparable Amba
Vilas Palace for the maharaja, with an onion-dome and minaret which
nearly resembled those on the Law Courts at Chennai.

Maharaja's Palace at Mysore

 The effective conservation of many Indian monuments was one of the most enduring legacies of the
British Rule in India. The Archaeological Survey of India was founded in the year 1861, but as
early as 1808 the government had concerned itself with the preservation of the Taj Mahal. It was
Lord Curzon who established the present framework of statutory control with the Ancient
Monuments
P.W.D. and the institutionalization of architecture